Smoking ban to be a campus-by-campus decision, officials say

California Maritime Academy students can't smoke in classrooms, inside buildings or spots along the waterfront.

But there are pockets in the campus where they can light up without getting caught.

No efforts are underway at the Vallejo campus to implement a campus-wide ban on cigarette smoking but some schools are examining that option, Director of Public Affairs and Communications Robert King said.

Whether a California State University campus is completely smoke-free is up to each individual school, King said.

Both the University of California system and schools within the California State system are taking some measures to ensure smoking will no longer be allowed on campuses.

Some schools already enforce no-tobacco policies, while others plan to do so in the new year, joining more than 1,100 colleges and universities around the nation that have gone smoke-free.

King said the movement to crack down on smokers is not a system-wide movement, but activities are taking place throughout the system.

At San Diego State University, workers will remove ashtrays from the remaining 12 designated smoking areas on campus for its new rule that officially took effect Wednesday.

At that school, officials say they have created an informational website, smokefree.sdsu.edu, about its new directive.

A similar ban has been instituted at California State University, Fullerton.

Officials have said that if they see people lighting up, they'll offer a friendly reminder. SDSU spokesman Greg Block said police aren't going to be walking around campus handing out tickets.

Similar efforts are taking place at University of California campuses.

Former UC President Mark Yudof announced the ban in 2012 but the rollout has been left up to each school.

California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White has said he is in favor of a system-wide ban on the use and sale of tobacco products, but so far it's a campus-by-campus decision, Cal State spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said.

UCLA did away with cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco in April. About 8 percent of UC students smoke, compared with the national average of 16 percent, officials said.